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Archive for June, 2009

Overview of Email Marketing

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Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

What is Email Marketing?

email marketing 150x150 Overview of Email MarketingEmail marketing is an important, frequently used method of Internet advertising. The fundamental procedure underlying this approach – email – is commonplace and relatively simple to understand. However, email marketing is often a dynamic operation that can become somewhat befuddling, especially to newcomers in the field. Below I define, in simple terms, a few central terms and concepts in e-mail marketing.

Email Marketing Campaign:

An email marketing campaign is a series of emails, with each email fulfilling a different “role” in the process of promoting a message, product, or service. These emails are spaced out over a period of time, perhaps dispatched on a regular basis, and differentiated into “steps” to help acclimate the potential customer on a slower, more comfortable basis. The first few emails, for instance, are usually meant as introductions, laying the groundwork for future communication. This is the “foot in the door” part of the campaign. Over the course of the several emails that follow, you can introduce the more substantive portion of your marketing. Finally, your efforts will culminate in a “call to action,” which will be discussed in more detail later, that prompts the reader to take his or her participation in your campaign to the next level. This “tread softly approach” has the benefit of, potentially, creating a greater sense of trust – a kind of relationship – with the reader.

Email Marketing Blast:

On the opposing side of the “tread softly approach” is an email marketing blast – a one-time flux of emails. Unlike an email campaign, the element of process is much less significant. Without having to engage in a stream of emails, there is not as much waiting in between, and the time from hitting the final “send” button to the time when you get your final results is much shorter. And, instead of dissecting your marketing into a series of emails, you pack the entirely of your efforts (no doubt shortened to fit the confines of one email) into a single dispatch. The drawback to this approach is that it may be harder to garner the trust and enthusiasm of the reader.

Call to Action:

A call to action is the portion of the email, or the last email(s) of a campaign, aimed at stirring the reader to participate in your message, product, or service. This is one of the most important parts of your email marketing efforts. Indeed, if this part fails, you could say that your marketing has, more or less, failed (although one could make an argument that if the reader has become more familiar with your company in the process, you have gained brand exposure).

Spam:

It would be hard to find anybody who enjoys receiving spam. Unsolicited, often irksomely designed, email advertisements can get on anybody’s nerves. For email marketers, drawing the line between “legitimate” email marketing and spam can sometimes be difficult. To certain people, this line doesn’t exist. However, you can rest easy on this regard if someone voluntarily chooses to participate in your marketing practices, by subscribing on his or her own volition. One clear threshold that should not be crossed is the boundary demarcating criminal activity. Committing acts such as phishing (soliciting sensitive information under false pretenses) and other malicious undertakings are definite off-limit areas.

Categories : Targeted Email Marketing
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5 Strategies for Internet Marketing

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Friday, June 26th, 2009

The domain of Internet marketing is no place for the dispassionate and the unoriginal. In a digital realm likely filled with many competitors, getting the upper hand and becoming successful is not an easy thing to do. Getting your business to where you want it to be with respect to the Internet can be an uphill climb. This is especially true if you are just getting started, because there may be many others out there who have been around for longer, and have accrued more resources and experience in the process. Further, Internet indexing is generally more favorable to content that has existed for a more extended period of time. But don’t be disheartened, because these are all the more reasons to be more motivated and committed. Below I offer some strategies that will hopefully help you along.

1. Take advantage of e-mail. E-mail marketing takes many forms, such as e-mail campaigns and e-mail blasts. A campaign is a series of e-mails, creating a stream of content that builds to a “call to action” for the reader. The benefit of a campaign is that it has a structure and “process.” The first e-mails help establish trust, and the messages that follow aim to build upon this burgeoning relationship. As a result, there is a greater chance that the reader will take active interest and participate in the marketer’s venture.  A blast is a one-time surge of e-mails. Because it lacks the process that characterizes the campaign, there is not a strong relationship-building element to this method. Consequently, the rate of user response may be lower. However, an e-mail blast is much less time consuming, and more appropriate for marketers facing a pressing time constraint.

2. Take advantage of web media. Perhaps the most popular content on the Internet today is multimedia. Web audio and video are dynamic, engaging, and wildly popular among Internet users – from streaming video on portals such as YouTube and Veoh, to audio podcasts that can be downloaded on iTunes and elsewhere. And, best of all, this type of content can be accessed in many areas for free. Thus, it is no surprise that many marketers have taken to video and audio as a means to spread their message and boost the exposure of their brand.

3. Take advantage of blogging. Blogging is widespread, from private users to large companies, niche-based communities to influential media outlets. The blogosphere also encompasses a very broad spectrum of interests. In fact, it seems that you can find a blog on just about any topic you can think of! There are many reasons why blogs have become so popular. Perhaps one of them is the personal dimension it adds to Internet content. Users that find a sense of common perspective or background with the information they encounter are more likely to take it seriously. Starting and maintaining a blog is extremely ease today, with the myriad free services available to do so – such as Blogger and WordPress.

4. Take advantage of social networking. Social networks such as Facebook and MySpace are sites that boost high-connectivity and ease of communication between millions of users worldwide. Thus, they offer ideal places for marketers to connect with other companies and potential clients to grow the profile of their business. These social networks also offer an abundance of services such as messaging, bulletin boards, and group initiation and participation that can prove highly beneficial in building connections.

5. Test and track the progress of your marketing. Maintaining a high degree of vigilance over how your marketing is fairing – whether it’s an e-mail campaign, pay-per-click, or blog – can be imperative to achieving long-term success. Knowing where you stand, and how well different components of your marketing are progressing, allows you to learn what works and what doesn’t. Then, you can streamline accordingly to help maximize the potential of your efforts. Some testing and tracking tools can be found free-of-charge on the Internet, such as those offered by Google Analytics.

Categories : SEO
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Online Marketing: Advantages and Drawbacks

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Friday, June 19th, 2009

It seems that the Internet has become so pervasive you would have to go to the most remote corner of the world to be outside its influence.  Perhaps a desert island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean comes to mind.  But even then, with the proper hardware, a determined individual could get onto the Internet via a satellite connection.  By now it should be no surprise that online marketing has become such a prominent part of many businesses’ strategy for brand exposure and product/service placement.  However, despite the fact that the Internet is such a valuable arena for marketing, there are still certain shortcomings.  This article will briefly examine both the benefits and the drawbacks of online marketing.

One of the most obvious benefits of online marketing is reach.  The widespread use of the medium, along with its ease of accessibility and myriad facets of interaction, has resulted in a user base numbering in the hundreds of millions (if not more). The speed at which new advancements are being introduced to the Internet continues to broaden its scope and appeal. For example, in recent years, the Internet has expanded to cell-phones, allowing people to access the web, instant message, and upload images and videos.

The plurality of uses allows the “online experience” to be unique for each individual. One person’s daily Internet routine (and I would contend that many of us have one) may be vastly different from someone else’s. We may each have our own set of websites we cycle through on a daily basis – blogs, forums, and news pages for instance, and we may have our own schedule of checking our email account(s). Additionally, information “gathering” on the Internet can be a dynamic experience, underlain by the abundance and accessibility of online multimedia. Missed the news broadcast last night? Log on to the website of your preferred news source and check out video clips of broadcasts. This breadth of options, and the dynamism of the various features, has opened up a tremendous spectrum of opportunities for online marketing.

But perhaps on an even more practical level, there is great upside in potential cost efficiency of Internet marketing. With the know-how and proper tools, a marketer can reach millions of people at a relatively minor cost. Knowing how to “optimize” for search engines, for instance, can raise the exposure of a website (and the individual/organization/product it represents) to a much higher level. Also, one can reach a large number of people via email at a relatively low cost of time and effort. Contrast this with the more traditional means of mail marketing.

Along with the positives there are also some drawbacks to online marketing. On a very general level, when something becomes so popular and easily communicated, certain traditional barriers of entry that maintained a kind of quality control are no longer present. In this way, it often seems that quality (however this may be construed in the world of marketing) becomes eroded by the surge of quantity. While there was (and still is) a definite amount of irrelevant material that comes into our mailboxes via “snail mail,” that quantity can seem to pail in comparison to how pervasive spam is. In 2008, an estimated 62 trillion spam emails were sent. On one level or another, we have all probably encountered this phenomenon.

Although there are some undeniable shortcomings to online marketing, the field remains, on the whole, a very worthwhile area for further exploration. The Internet is here to stay. Even in times of national an international economic distress one can expect millions upon millions of people worldwide to log on to their web browser, check their emails, or go onto a popular search engine. And, just as the Internet isn’t likely to go away, neither is online marketing.

Categories : Internet Marketing
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Email Marketing and Spam

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Monday, June 15th, 2009

Don’t Spam


do not spam Email Marketing and SpamOn a daily basis, millions of emails are sent streaming across the Internet. Some are personal communications – old friends exchanging greetings and catching up from opposite ends of the country, some are professional missives – business memos disseminated down from the higher ups, and some are pieces of marketing. This last category, email advertising, has grown to become an important aspect of Internet marketing. As the digital domain continues its tight envelopment of the world, email has become one of the most efficient means of communication, and is available to just about everybody who can access the Internet. In recent years, the progress in information technology has even extended the capabilities of email onto portable devices such as the cell phone.

To marketers, this important avenue has yielded an abundance of opportunities. Email advertising can take different forms, and serve different products, services, and messages. In addition to promoting a salable product, email advertising can also bolster brand recognition. The success of these ventures, of course, is contingent upon knowing how to approach email advertising. Although email has become an efficient and easy means to engage in marketing, it is still fraught with many uncertainties and pitfalls. This is especially true for the newbie email advertiser. Getting it wrong is much easier than getting it right, and with the tremendous flux of email advertisements that stream across the Internet on a daily basis – many of which represent “bad” practice, a fresh undertaking can seem like an uphill battle.

One of the most important principles to recognize is to not let your advertising erode into the domain of annoying, and sometimes harmful, spam. To many, the distinction between spam and “legitimate” email advertising doesn’t exist – if it’s unsolicited and commercial, it’s automatically spam. The line can be very vague, but there is at least one hard rule that every email advertiser should observe with regards to “good” practice. The rising tide of email spam has put a serious dent in the public perception of email advertising. The worst elements of this tide – the most toxic filth that can get washed up in your inbox – are the scams that unscrupulous individuals try to orchestrate. Phishing is a notorious example. Phishing is the attempt to solicit personal, and often sensitive, information under a false guise. Committing fraud of this type, and others, is blatantly wrong and, in many if not most cases, punishable by law. This distinction between the legal and the illegal should be evidently clear.

On a more personal level, before you begin your email advertising, one important question you should ask yourself is, “Am I providing a relevant, useful service/product/information?” Although you are you are an advertiser, you should still believe that what you are marketing is something beneficial. Even if the potential client doesn’t have a need for what you are advertising, his or her acquisition/follow up on your email should yield something positive. At the very least, it should not be harmful (this follows from our discussion above).

When communicating your message about what you are advertising, be measured and serious. Do not give into the frivolous antics of a stereotypical salesman. Come off as being authentic and down-to-earth. Be straightforward, and do not rely on vacuous slogans and gaudy graphics to pitch your product. Explain what the potential client stands to gain, and how he or she can follow through with your offer/message.

Categories : Targeted Email Marketing
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Search Engine Optimization and Marketing

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Monday, June 8th, 2009

Email marketing is an important, frequently used method of Internet advertising. The fundamental procedure underlying this approach – email – is commonplace and relatively simple to understand. However, email marketing is often a dynamic operation that can become somewhat befuddling, especially to newcomers in the field. Below I define, in simple terms, a few central terms and concepts in e-mail marketing.

Email Marketing Campaign: An email marketing campaign is a series of emails, with each email fulfilling a different “role” in the process of promoting a message, product, or service. These emails are spaced out over a period of time, perhaps dispatched on a regular basis, and differentiated into “steps” to help acclimate the potential customer on a slower, more comfortable basis. The first few emails, for instance, are usually meant as introductions, laying the groundwork for future communication. This is the “foot in the door” part of the campaign. Over the course of the several emails that follow, you can introduce the more substantive portion of your marketing. Finally, your efforts will culminate in a “call to action,” which will be discussed in more detail later, that prompts the reader to take his or her participation in your campaign to the next level. This “tread softly approach” has the benefit of, potentially, creating a greater sense of trust – a kind of relationship – with the reader.

Email Marketing Blast: On the opposing side of the “tread softly approach” is an email marketing blast – a one-time flux of emails. Unlike an email campaign, the element of process is much less significant. Without having to engage in a stream of emails, there is not as much waiting in between, and the time from hitting the final “send” button to the time when you get your final results is much shorter. And, instead of dissecting your marketing into a series of emails, you pack the entirely of your efforts (no doubt shortened to fit the confines of one email) into a single dispatch. The drawback to this approach is that it may be harder to garner the trust and enthusiasm of the reader.

Call to Action: A call to action is the portion of the email, or the last email(s) of a campaign, aimed at stirring the reader to participate in your message, product, or service. This is one of the most important parts of your email marketing efforts. Indeed, if this part fails, you could say that your marketing has, more or less, failed (although one could make an argument that if the reader has become more familiar with your company in the process, you have gained brand exposure).

Spam: It would be hard to find anybody who enjoys receiving spam. Unsolicited, often irksomely designed, email advertisements can get on anybody’s nerves. For email marketers, drawing the line between “legitimate” email marketing and spam can sometimes be difficult. To certain people, this line doesn’t exist. However, you can rest easy on this regard if someone voluntarily chooses to participate in your marketing practices, by subscribing on his or her own volition. One clear threshold that should not be crossed is the boundary demarcating criminal activity. Committing acts such as phishing (soliciting sensitive information under false pretenses) and other malicious undertakings are definite off-limit areas.

Categories : SEO
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